Justified Spending

School budgets have a reputation for being insufficient. There is always talk in the mainstream media about how teachers are underpaid and how schools are enrolled beyond capacity. So how do we justify spending parts of the budget for special needs students? It is justified because schools are allotted an amount of money proportionate to the number of enrolled students. This amount ideally covers things like books, supplies and extracurricular activities. If spending is justified for students to participate in extracurricular activities then it is easily justified to use additional spending to meet the learning needs of special need students. In the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1997 it says:


The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1997 defines assistive technology device as "any item, piece of equipment, or product system, whether acquired commercially off the shelf, modified, or customized, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve the functional capabilities of a child with a disability" (IDEA, 1997, 20, USC, Ch. 33, Sec. 1401 [25] US).
A lot of times these “assistive technology devices” are rather inexpensive such as books on tape or self sticking notes of the seeing impaired. Then there are Scotch tape to hold paper in place, Velcro, slant borders or adapted common tools for aiding Assistive Technology for Access. These solutions are cheap and increase the learning capability of disabled students greatly and are easily justified.



Assistive Technology to Meet K–12 Student Needs ." "Learning Point Associates" North Central Regional Lab Educatioin. 2004. 29 Jan. 2009 .

Technology in education

The use of technology in education can be extremely effective in learning and teaching. From my personal experience the use of technology has made learning easier for myself.

One advantage comes to a student who has developed the skill to type. In 6th grade I had a teacher who taught typing. He had cloths taped to the top of the keyboards that laid over our hands. We then had to go through a typing program. Mr. Kinn, the teacher, would pace around the room intently watching the students. Any attempt to raise the cloth was quickly noticed and corrected. At the time I felt the skill was unnecessary but as I got through middle school and into high school, I became very grateful for the skill I had learned in Mr. Kinns typing class. I can now type at a fairly quick rate which offers many advantages than conventional writing. This is one example of how technology can enable students to succeed in school.

One more advantage to knowing how to use technology in education is the ability to become organized and proficiant. The ability to chart and keep track of grades, attendance, and other information is very efficent with the knowledge and use of a spread sheet. This can even extend into extra curricular activities such as wrestling, basketball, or even debate. Stats can be recorded and monitored.